Carmel Apple

My first carmel apple - yeah!


A very nice and thoughtful student, Susie, bought it for me. Thanks Susie!


Doesn't it look yummy?


Somebody else thought so too; here she is hoping I drop it.


I tried to take a bit, but couldn't.


So, I cut it and have been enjoying a lil' bit each day. It was a tart apple - perfect to balance all that sugar.

Long Overdue

These pictures of Todd's skydiving adventure are long over due. I know I said I would post more, and finally, here they are. Getting ready to jump out of the plane.

Nice view even though you're falling at such a high rate of speed.

Pull the chute.


Comin' in for a landing.

You made it back!

Happy Grandparents Day!

Grandparents day was on Sunday and I just want to give a shout out to my Grandma! You're a lovely lady who has taught me how to laugh, eat healthy, not be too naughty, and instilled in me a love for plants and gardening. Thanks for all you've done; you cooked for us, picked us up from school, took us to church, made us clothes, and much, much more. You're talented, loving, and I'm so lucky. LOVE YOU GRAMS!

Trail Fun

After the nice meal at the Creamery it would have been fun to hang out a bit more, but it was time to hit the trail. It was definitely a great 16 mile ride.

You see some fun things along the way, an eagle flew overhead and we saw this snapping turtle. Check out his armored shell - don't mess with this one.

These are touch me nots and they were growin' all over. I didn't know what they were but Todd gave us a lesson.

You gently squeeze the long pods and they explode, letting out their seeds. It's really fun to play with and it's amazing how sensitive the pods are, they even explode if the wind blows. Plants have evolved such ingenious ways to disperse their seeds.

Celebration @ the Creamery

Over Labor Day weekend we had a fun time with Mom and Dad. We biked the Red Cedar River Trail in Menomonie.


We biked to the new Creamery, a wonderful restaurant that uses many locally grown ingredients.


We love it there because they have a screend patio to eat on and nice gardens to look at.

We also have fun conversations.

The meals are the perfect size, not too big, not too small and oh so yummy! And Todd thinks the coffee is good.

Got Insects? We do!

My herbs were doing pretty good and I guess the insects thought they were good too. I was watering one day and saw a pretty big spider.

I pointed it out to Todd and the PhD Biologist said, "that's two spiders."

Oh........yeah, it is. I guess when you take a closer look there are two, but in my defense, I didn't want to get that close.

Fried Green Tomato?

I grew a couple of tomato plants given to me by a colleague; they are doing really well.

Except we've had such a cool summer they weren't ripening, I was beginning to worry. In the last week we've had sunny weather and a few have ripened.

Fun in the City

A couple weekends ago, I had fun with friends in Minneapolis - it was a shopping day. We hit up all the important stuff, Ikea (see the blue bag), REI, and the Asian grocery store. And we listened to 80s music - Jodi & Kate, thanks for a fun day!

Who said we're not doing our part to help the economy? We probably won't be smiling when we get the credit card bill.

Happy Retirement Mom! You've worked so hard for a very long time, at times you've had 3 jobs. You sacrificed a lot for Jen and I and we LOVE YOU. Who we are today is because you're the BEST MOM EVER! Wishin' you many fun-filled retirement days; may you enjoy waking up late, "putzing around the yard", and anything else your heart desires. Hopefully you'll come to Wisconsin too!

Busy, busy, busy

Yes, it's been a while since the last post - it's been a bit busy around here. The students are back in town for the start of the semester so there's been a lot to do. So much so that we had to go for happy hour last Friday. Drink your mango marg!

A few margs, chips & salsa, and we were feeling much better; Kate looks happy!